The Black Dragon and the Red Duelist
by Nameless 45
Summary: OC Yugioh GX fic: A girl with a passion for dueling joins up at Duel Academy to follow her dreams. But sinister forces seem to take an unhealthy interest in her. With a plethora of friends, rivals, and cards, Alaindra will need everything she has to survive Duel Academy.
1. Alaindra

Authors notes

A few months ago, I read the Call to the Dragons fanfic by Kaze-Kami-Ha, and was inspired by that to try my own Yugioh Fanfiction. As such the setting may seem a bit similar to fans of that fanfic.

My own story is set after the GX series with an OC cast, but it is before the 5ds series, the main cast of GX has long been gone from duel academy, but Sheppard and Crowler are still here. (I did grow up watching the dub, so I will be using the dub names for the characters.)

Finally, this is my first fanfiction, as well as my first time using so there may be lots of things I'm doing wrong. Feel free to tell me what they are so that I can improve.

Thanks in advance,

Nameless 45

* * *

"I will go and you can't stop me!" Alaindra Graves yelled at her father.

"Young lady you are staying here and that's final!" Laurence Graves yelled back, picking up her deck and pocketing her cards.

"These cards are staying with me until I can trust you not to run off with them." He stormed off before stopping at the door.

"Alaindra… this is for your own good, you don't know how dangerous the world of dueling is." Then, Alaindra heard the door close and his footsteps recede.

A few moments later Alaindra left as well.

. . .

That night, Alaindra was sitting on her bed when she heard a soft knocking at her door.

"Ali? Hon, can I come in?" A female voice asked.

"The doors unlocked mum." Alaindra said without turning around.

"Are you okay?" Diana Graves sat down next to her daughter.

"No."

"Your father loves you very much Ali. You know that right?" she tried again.

"No."

"Don't use that tone with me, young lady." Diana placed something in her daughter's lap.

"Mum? This is my deck!" Alaindra squeaked.

"Yup it sure I-ooof," Diana yelled as her daughter hugged her tightly.

"Does dad know?" Alaindra asked, still hanging on.

"Nope, he's fast asleep. I'll drive you to the Kaiba Dome first thing in the morning, before your father wakes up." Diana kissed the top of Alaindra's head.

"What if dad gets angry?"

"Your father doesn't get angry; he just pretends to be to scare bad little girls." Diana tickled her daughter to prove her point.

"Mummm! I'm sixteen." Alaindra complained, squirming away from her mother.

"Okay Ali," Diana laughed, "Now go to bed early."

"Mummmm!"

. . .

Alaindra sprinted across the busy streets ducking and dodging through the crowded square. She was running late for the duel academy exam. Brushing her black bangs out of her eyes Alaindra stopped. "How was I supposed to know that dad would wake up at 6am to watch reruns of his favorite television show?" she glared accusingly at the stray dog which had come to beg for food. Whining pitifully the dog looked off into the distance.

"What's that supposed to… oh." Right in front of her was a massive domed structure, dominating the horizon.

"The Kaiba corp duel dome," she breathed, "that's where the entrance exams are being held… shit!" Alaindra took off running again, spurred on by being so close to her destination.

Finally, after several minutes of dodging around startled people, Alaindra arrived at the front gates and entered.

Or she would have if the door wasn't being blocked by three boys in blue jackets cornering a blond girl.

Out of nowhere, a shove sent the girl stumbling onto the floor. Before she could say anything, the biggest of the boys kicked her in the stomach and his friend pulled her up by her hair.

Running up to them, Alaindra took out her duel disk and smashed the metal into the boy's face.

Clutching his bleeding nose, the boy cried, "What was that for?"

"Why don't you go pick on someone who can fight back?" Alaindra challenged him.

"Don't be fooled by how she looks, she's dangerous." The third boy stepped forward to say.

"The only person who in danger is you, unless you leave right now." Alaindra said.

The biggest of the three boys stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.

"I think we have a girl who wants a beating."

Alaindra raised her duel disk again. "You're a big guy, probably good at brawling. But can you duel?"

"I'm Damien Oscott, the son of the chief of police in Domino City, I don't think a street rat like you could beat me. I accept your challenge"

Suddenly, a voice called out from inside the Kaiba Dome.

"Damien? Your duel is in two minutes, you better get ready."

Damien sneered.

"You're lucky street rat. Don't think I will forget this, we will duel. Mark my words."

When the three boys had left, Alaindra helped the blond girl to her feet.

"You don't have to help me. If the others see you together with me they might not like you as well." The girl said.

"Don't worry about that I don't care what other people think of me. I'm Alaindra by the way."

"My names Layla." The blond girl introduced herself.

"Why were they attacking you?" Alaindra asked.

"It's because when I first got to duel academy… I did something very bad." Layla noticed Alaindra's sorrowful gaze.

"But don't worry, I'll convince them that I'm safe eventually." Layla looked back at the Kaiba dome. "By the way, why are you here Alaindra?"

"Oh shit! I'm meant to be taking my entrance exam, I'm going to be late." Alaindra cried.

"Don't worry, I know this dome like the back of my hand. I'll take you to where you need to go."

With that Layla dragged Alaindra into the Kaiba dome.

Instantly, a burst of colours and sounds assaulted Alaindra as her eyes took in the many duels that were taking place. However, Layla seemed to be unaffected by the wondrous sights as she dragged Alaindra to what looked like a receptionist's desk.

"Hi Miss Dane" Layla smiled.

The receptionist ignored her.

"Are you here for the entrance exams?" she asked Alaindra.

"Yes ma'am".

"Name?"

"Alaindra Graves."

The receptionist made a show of scanning her papers.

"Yes, your duel is in arena 3. Go quickly though, it starts in two minutes."

"Arena 3 is over this way." Layla seemed slightly deflated as she led Alaindra away.

"Bitch." Alaindra muttered under her breath.

"Please don't say that, it's my fault really. Like I said, when I got here I did some really bad things… they're just all scared really." Layla told her, perking up out of her previous state.

When the two girls finally made it to the arena, a duel was finishing.

Richard: 950

Damien: 3000

In front of them was a timid looking boy with black hair, who didn't have a single monster on his side of the field.

Opposing him was a large boy in a blue coat, who had a massive lion panther hybrid growling behind him. (Beast King Barbaros (8/3000/1200).

Suddenly, the large boy turned towards Alaindra, and she felt tendrils of anger snake into her chest.

"Street rat." Damien smirked. "Once I defeat little Richard I'm coming for you."

"We…we're still dueling!" the timid boy stuttered out, causing Damien to turn to him in amusement.

"Then make your final move."

"T...Then I'll play my spell card the Shallow Grave to allow both of us to special summon a monster in face down defense position from our graveyard."

The two boys stopped to choose their monsters.

"Next I shall play Shield Crush to destroy the monster you just brought back."

A beam of green light smashed into Damien's defense monster.

"Finally I'll activate Dark Piercing Light which flips my monster face up. Aussa the Earth Charmer!"

A brunette witch with an amethyst staff rose onto the field. (3/500/1500)

"And when Aussa is flipped face up her specially ability activates, allowing me to take control of an earth monster. Like your Beast King Barbaros!" The hybrid monster roared in anger before slowly walking towards Richard's side of the field.

"Now Beast King Barbaros, attack Damien directly and end this duel!"

Damien laughed.

"I counter with my trap card, Blast Held by a Tribute! This card activates when a card that was tribute summoned attacks. Then, it destroys every monster on your side of the field and deals you 1000 points of damage."

The monster clawed at its heart as it roared in pain. Slowly glowing white cracks appeared in its skin until finally, the monster exploded into light, blasting Richard into the wall.

Richard: 0

Damien: 3000

As the holograms faded, a slightly stunned Richard was led to a seat to catch his breath. While this was happening, a man with a dark blue trench coat stepped into the arena.

"That was the duel between Damien Oscott and Richard Anderson. Our next applicant is… Alaindra Graves."

Alaindra stepped forward into the arena.

"Are you Alaindra?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"Good, I am Professor Ernest Cameron. In the spirit of fairness, your duel proctor shall be randomly chosen from a list of duel proctors, do you understand?"

Alaindra nodded.

"Good," Professor Cameron said as a contraption that looked suspiciously like a lottery machine was rolled in. Somebody pressed a button and all the white balls inside of the machine began spinning, until one lone ball fell away from the group and landed into the exit tube. When the ball had come to a halt, a scanner scanned the ball and displayed its number onto a t.v screen, together with the name of her duel proctor.

"Layla?" Professor Cameron gasped. "Who put her into the system?"

Angry whispers floated from person to person as the entire room turned on the blond girl.

"Why are you here?" Professor Cameron barked.

"I… Vice Chancellor Crowler said that I could be a duel proctor today." Layla kept her head down.

"Damn that man. If he wasn't so important, we would have expelled you a long time ago Layla."

From the stands, Damien stood up.

"Clearly, we cannot have that witch be a duel proctor. We don't want her hurting anybody" he said.

"What do you suggest Damien?" Professor Cameron's face took on a look of pride as he saw the Obelisk boy stand up.

"I suggest that I take Layla's place and duel… Alaindra, is it?"

"Wonderful idea, my boy." The professor beckoned at his student. "Come, come."

Damien walked until he stood parallel to Alaindra.

"In your application duel, you aren't expected to win. After all, you are going up against the best students in the school. However, with the way I'm going to beat you, there's no way the academy will accept you." Damien laughed cruelly.

"And what happens if I beat you?" Alaindra fired back.

"Me? The top duelist in my class, losing to an untrained girl like you?" Damien looked as if Alaindra had suggested that the moon would start dancing. "If I lose, I'll eat my cards!" Damien erupted into laughter.

"That's fine by me. It'll serve a bully like you right." Alaindra's lips curved into a sneer.

"Alright, enough trash talk" Professor Cameron said in the distance. "Duel!"

With that word ringing in their ears, the two duelists activated their duel disk.

Alaindra: 4000

Damien: 4000

"As I'm the challenger, I'll go first." Alaindra said as she drew.

"Now I'll summon Blackland Fire Dragon." A green dragon flew onto the field. (4/1500/800).

"I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Now I'll begin mine." Damien drew.

"Got it in my first try. I summon my best monster, the Beast King Barbaros!" the same lion panther hybrid from Damien's last duel stomped onto the field. (8/3000/1200)

"How did you summon a level eight monster with no tributes?" Alaindra gasped.

"My Beast King is a super rare monster that comes with a plethora of abilities befitting its status. One of these abilities is that I can summon it without tributes, at the cost of my monster losing 1100 attack."

True to his word, the monster's attack dropped down to the required attack. (8/3000/1200) - (8/1900/1200).

"Now Beast King Barbaros, destroy her Blackland Fire Dragon!" The giant monster thrust its lance into the dragon's body, brutally skewering it.

Alaindra: 3600

Damien: 4000

"You see Alaindra, this is the difference between you and me. You only act like you're tough, I simply am tough." Damien thumped his chest. "I'll place a card facedown and see how you'll deal with my monster."

"My turn!" Alaindra smiled as she saw what she had drawn.

"If you're so tough, then it won't bother you when I do this! First I summon my Ancient Dragon."

The hoary old dragon descended from the sky to lie beside Alaindra. (4/1400/1300)

"Then, I shall activate my spell card Tribute Doll." A wooden puppet moved jerkily forward.

"This card lets me special summon a level seven monster as long as I tribute a monster already on my side of the field." Alaindra grinned. "So Damien, why don't I show you my best monster. The Red Eyes Black Dragon!" The doll and the dragon melted into a thick black oil which slowly condensed into a draconian shape with glowing red eyes. (7/2400/2000)

Damien stepped back a bit, and then chuckled nervously.

"You can't attack with your monster on the turn you used Tribute Doll."

"That may be true, but I can still use this! Inferno Fire Blast!" Alaindra showed Damien her spell card.

"As long as I have a Red Eyes Black Dragon on the field this card allows me to deal 2400 points of damage to you." Alaindra said as he dragon unleashed a red ball of flame towards her enemy.

Alaindra: 3600

Damien: 2800

"Huh?" Alaindra gasped. "You only took half the damage you were supposed to."

"That's because I activated this!" Damien gestured to a trap card on his field. "Damage Translation! This card halves all effect damage I take and allows me to summon one ghost token for every time I take effect damage." Damien laughed as a tiny ghost appeared on his side of the field in attack mode. (1/0/0)

"Now, as I assume your turn is over, I shall start mine with the equip spell Axe of Fools, giving my beast king one thousand extra attack points as well as negating its effect." Damien looked smug as his monster grew in attack points. (8/1900/1200) – (8/4000/1200) "And because it was my beast's effect that was lowering his attack to 1900, Beast King Barbaros gains 1100 attack, on top of the 1000 the axe gives him."

"Next I'll summon Panther Warrior in attack mode." (4/2000/1600) Damien laughed darkly. "This duel is over Alaindra. Go Beast King Barbaros, destroy her Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

"I activate my trap card Zero Gravity, forcing all our monsters to change battle position." Alaindra said as every monster on the field switched to defense mode.

Growling, Damien activated a card of his own.

"I activate my spell Stop Defense, forcing my Beast King back to attack mode so that you can't destroy him. Then I'll play one card face down and end my turn."

Frowning slightly, Alaindra drew her next card.

"I'll place one more card face down before switching Red Eyes back to attack mode, then I'll activate my trap card Meteor Rain! Allowing my monsters to deal damage through your defense position monsters, equal to the difference between their defense and my monster's attack."

"Red Eyes, destroy his ghost token!" With one breath of fire the dragon scattered the ghost into the four winds.

Alaindra: 3600

Damien: 400

"And don't think I don't know about the secondary effect of your Axe of Fools, during your standby phase you lose five hundred life points, so this duel is over."

The crowd of people. Which had previously only half watched the duel as the talked among themselves, began to actively watch Alaindra's match when it became clear that the newbie was not only holding her own, but matching their golden boy blow by blow.

"That would be true against any other opponent," Damien said, "but I am of the elite, the best of the best. I'm always prepared. I'll activate the continuous trap Solemn Wishes, giving me 500 points every time I draw a card."

Slightly flustered, Damien drew a card allowing his lifepoints to go up.

Alaindra: 3600

Damien: 900

Before they immediately went back down again.

Alaindra: 3600

Damien: 400

"Now that my turn has actually started I'll summon Lady Panther" A panther dressed in Egyptian garb joined Damien's ranks (4/1400/1300).

"Next I sha- "

Before Damien could finish his sentence, Alaindra interrupted him.

"Before you go to the trouble of ordering an attack, I'll activate Threatening Roar, preventing you from declaring an attack this turn." Alaindra's Red Eyes let out a roar which shook the entire arena, causing Damien's monsters to step back slightly.

"Fine. Your hand is empty and the only card on your field is your Red Eyes, I'll defeat you sooner or later."

Damien activated another spell card.

"I'll equip my Beast King with Rare Gold Armour, to prevent you from attacking any monster except him. Then I'll pass my turn to you."

Alaindra drew her card.

"I'll activate my Pot of Greed spell card, allowing me to draw 2 cards."

Looking at her two new cards, Alaindra breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll play both my cards face down before switching my Red Eyes to defense mode. Then I'll end my turn."

Damien drew again and let Solemn Wishes give him his lifepoints.

Alaindra: 3600

Damien: 900

So that he would survive his axe.

Alaindra: 3600

Damien: 400

"Your delaying tactics are over, I activate the Field Spell Sogen!" An expanse of lush green grass spread across the duel arena. "This field spell gives my beast warriors 200 extra attack points."

Panther Lady (4/1600/1500)

Panther Warrior (4/2200/1800)

Beast King Barbaros (8/4200/1400)

"Before you can attack, I'll use my trap card Gift of the Mystical Elf" Alaindra said as the blue skinned elf pressed a ball of light into Alaindra.

"Now for every monster on the field I gain 300 life points."

Alaindra: 4800

Damien: 400

"Stop delaying the inevitable." Damien growled again, now truly losing his temper. "If you aren't a coward then just sit still and face your doom!"

"What does he want her to do? Simply stop fighting?" Layla wondered aloud. Surprisingly, quite a few people in the arena began echoing similar sentiments, either deciding to support the underdog or simply wanting to see Damien lose.

Hearing their voices turn against him, Damien grew madder.

"Go Panther Warrior, destroy her Red Eyes." The purple skinned panther slashed through the black dragon in defense position. As soon as that happened though, Panther Lady exploded into tiny pieces.

"Why did that happen?" Layla asked.

"Because Panther Warrior's high attack comes at a price. Every time he attacks, Damien needs to sacrifice a monster" Professor Cameron seemed to not notice who he was talking to, being so focused on the duel.

"Now Beast King Barbarous, unleash your power upon her!"

Alaindra watched the Lion Panther Hybrid bring its axe down onto her, and tried not to flinch.

Alaindra: 600

Damien: 400

"Next turn you rat. Next turn." Damien promised.

"There won't be a next turn. I activate my spell card Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring back one monster from the grave. A monster like my Red Eyes." Alaindra said as the black mist rising behind her coalesced into her signature card. (7/2400/2000)

"Did you forget about my Rare Gold Armour? Your 2400 attack monster won't scratch mine." Damien seemed relieved that that was all Alaindra could bring out.

"I didn't forget. In fact I'm going to equip my Red Eyes with an armour of sorts as well. I activate Metalmorph!" A liquid iron spilled from the trap card onto the dragon, turning it into some sort of draconic machine hybrid. (7/2700/2000)

"An extra 300 attack?" Damien looked like he didn't know whether he should be laughing or scared.

"Wrong again. When a monster equipped with Metalmorph attacks, it gains half the attack of its target. Red Eyes, attack!"

The metal dragon flew forward into the giant beast king, gaining attack on the way. (7/4800/2000).

The two monsters collided with a bang and struggled. Finally, with his wings wrapped around the beast king, Red Eyes Black Dragon managed to sink its teeth into the other monsters neck, crushing it into tiny pieces.

Alaindra: 600

Damien: 0

Damien fell to his knees, "how could I lose?"

Alaindra walked over to him. "What was it you said you would do if you lost to me? Something about eating your cards?"

Growling, Damien randomly selected a card from his deck and tore it into four parts before stuffing it into his mouth, "You have made a terrible enemy today, mark my words."

With that, he fled the arena.

Alaindra scoffed, "I'll mark your words when you finally make a deck strong enough to rival mine."

Turning to Layla, Alaindra gave her a victory pose, and the blond girl clapped happily.

"I can't believe it!" Layla said as she hugged Alaindra. "You made it in, and you defended me… No one has ever stood up for me."

Alaindra smiled slightly and allowed the blond to snuggle into her. "That's what friends are for Layla."

Looking up at her, the blonds eyes grew comically large. "huhhh" She breathed.

"That's right, we're friends." Layla seemed to perk up, "of course we're friends!"

Picking Alaindra up, Layla spun her around with unerring strength.

Laughing, Alaindra wriggled away from her friend to go watch the next duel.


	2. Kisara

. . .

"Norman Thames, Isabella Craws, Alaindra… Graves?" a shadowy figure looked up, "She's the daughter of Laurence Graves. We cannot allow her to join her power to the academy's."

To his right, an even darker shadow took a look at the computer screen.

"We can't simply have the good professor expel her, she has beaten one of the top duelists in Obelisk Blue in front of dozens of people. The press would ask too many questions."

"We can't just let her join them!" The first shadowy figure slammed a fist down onto the table, "Even untrained she defeated one of duel academy's best students, if we let her learn from the best we'll have no idea how dangerous she could be to our cause."

For a few minutes, the two sat in silence.

"I have an idea," one of them interrupted suddenly.

"Since our... mutual friend is a teacher, we can get access to the written portions of the applicants exams. If we hack into the system, and replace her score with one that is… shall we say less than satisfactory…" he let his words hang there.

"That would not be enough to expel her outright. But it would downgrade her rank from Obelisk Blue to that of Slifer Red."

"And in Slifer Red, its only a matter of time she gets angry at the way she's being treated, then…"

"We can use her power to summon the legendary monster." The men said in unison, both beginning to laugh darkly.

. . .

It had been a few days since the entrance exams. Alaindra had naturally passed and been accepted into the prestigious ranks of Duel Academy. With the interference of the vice chancellor, Alaindra had even been allowed to become Layla's roommate, despite their difference in year level.

"Hi," Layla said nervously to her friend.

Glancing at her, Alaindra smiled, "What's up?"

"I… I just thought that you might be mad that you were put in Slifer Red, so I got you something."

She showed Alaindra a card. "You use the Red Eyes Black Dragon right? I think this will help you."

"I'm not mad at being put in Slifer Red, Layla. Compared to where I live this place is amazing."

"Oh, that's good, but." Layla bit her lip, "you almost certainly got put here because they saw you with me. Like I said, not many people like me here."

"Layla, we've been over this before. I'm sure this has nothing to do with you, and even if it does, it's still not your fault." Despite Alaindra's assurances, Layla still pressed the card into her hand.

"The Red Eyes Archfiend of Lightning," Alaindra read, "this is a rare card Layla."

"I know, and I want you to have it. I don't duel very often anymore."

"Why not?" Alaindra asked.

"The others, they said that they never wanted to see me at the duel arena again." Layla replied.

Alaindra got off her bed, grabbed her red blazer, and then took Layla's hand.

"What are you doing?" the blond girl asked.

"We're going to the dueling arena Layla."

. . .

"Quickly Sheppard, we can't afford to make a bad impression on Seto Kaiba." The tall, pale skinned teacher was saying.

"Now, now, Crowler, I'm sure Mr Kaiba would understand that the two most important members of the school cannot possibly drop everything to greet him." His bald companion said.

Nevertheless, Sheppard picked up his pace as much as he could without actively sprinting. Crowler on the other hand, was actively sprinting. Because of that it was Crowler who made it up to the helipad first, albeit panting and out of breath.

"Just one… moment sir, I… would be honored- wait, where is Mr Kaiba?" Vellian Crowler had only seen the tall brunette Seto Kaiba on television. However, none of the three people in front of him could have even passed as the founder of Duel Academy.

The first was a young man in his mid 20's with spiky black hair. He was listing off a set of orders to an older man of around middle age, dressed in a black suit and sunglasses. The third was a girl of around 16 years with white-blue hair who was leaning against the Kaiba Corp helicopter in a stereotypical bored pose. Upon seeing him, she interrupted the two men.

"Mokuba, Roland."

"Huh?"

The girl jerked her head towards Crowler.

Dusting himself off, Crowler spoke in a commanding voice.

"I said, where is Mr Kaiba?"

"That would be me." The spiky haired man replied.

"Am I to believe that some snot nosed brat who has the height of a preschooler is the world class duelist Seto Kaiba?"

"This is Seto's younger brother and Vice President of KaibaCorp, Mokuba Kaiba." Chancellor Sheppard said as he climbed onto the helipad.

Crowler squealed in fright and began chewing on his shirt.

"I meant no offense about your height Mr Mokuba, it was just that… just that…" Crowler was unable to think of a good excuse.

"It was just that you were stressed after staying up late to mentor students, wasn't it Crowler?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes, yes, that's it. I'm just tired after doing all the wonderful teaching I do." Crowler offered Mokuba his most charming smile. Mokuba stepped back in fear.

"Okay then… do you know why we're here?" Mokuba asked.

"The great Seto Kaiba thought that my wonderful tuition would benefit his daughter of course." Crowler kept his smile plastered on his face.

"What I assume Crowler means is that Mr Kaiba enrolled his daughter here at duel academy." Sheppard corrected. "You are Kisara, I presume." He said to the blue haired girl.

"If all the teachers are like this then this will be a long year." Kisara sighed.

"Don't say that Sara, I'm come visit you heaps." Mokuba tried to cheer her up.

"When you don't have to take over for Seto whenever he runs off to duel Yugi." Kisara answered.

"Speaking of which…" Roland showed Mokuba something on his phone.

"That's not good, tell Fuguta to delay them until I get there." Mokuba ran back on the helicopter.

"Delay them for six hours? Mr Mokuba?" Roland ran after him and the helicopter started up again, buffeting them all with wind.

As the helicopter pulled away Mokuba poked half his body out and waved. Kisara sighed.

"Well, I'll take you to the Obelisk Blue dorms Kisara. Your father has sent us a file on your past dueling exploits and I'm sure you'll fit right in." Sheppard broke the silence that had befallen them.

. . .

Alaindra had almost made it to the duel arena when she walked right into another girl. It had been her fault really, Layla had been struggling so much that Alaindra had focused all her attention into moving her friend.

"How dare a Slifer slacker like you injure this academy's finest student." A pale skinned man that Alaindra had not previously seen said. "This is Kisara Kaiba, her father owns this academy and I could have you-"

Layla interrupted the man, "We're very sorry Chancellor Crowler, it was my fault."

Seeing Layla, Crowler softened slightly. "Well, if you're friends with Layla then I suppose you can't be all bad."

Dusting herself off, Kisara spoke, "You may have been a big shot in whatever backwards town you were from, but here you'll soon learn not to mess with your betters. Now why don't you go run home to daddy?"

Kisara had not actually meant anything particularly cruel with her comment. But nevertheless her words had poured salt into Alaindra's wounds from her recent argument with her father.

Seeing red, Alaindra grabbed the silver haired girl and threw her to the ground. Unexpectedly, Kisara's legs snaked around Alaindra's and brought her down as well. For a second, the two girls wrestled on the ground, punching and clawing at each other.

Before more could happen, Crowler and Sheppard each grabbed a girl and pulled them apart.

"You two could get expelled for fighting," Layla said in a comically hushed whisper as if Crowler and Sheppard had not just witnessed the fight.

"You know what," Kisara spat on the floor, "We'll do this the old fashioned way."

Getting her meaning, Alaindra shook free of Crowler and pulled out her duel disk.

"Ummm, is it me or are these two ignoring us?" Crowler wondered.

"Oh lighten up Crowler, a duel will be just the thing to solve their differences and give Kisara a Duel Academy welcome." Sheppard said.

"Well, as long as I don't get sued." Crowler mopped at his head with an old handkerchief.

Kisara activated her duel disk which was banded in silver and modeled after the Kaiba Corp duel disks, rather than the duel academy ones.

"Duel!" the two girls yelled.

"I'll go first," Alaindra said angrily.

"First I'll summon Troop Dragon in attack mode." She said as her green dragon rose onto the field (2/700/800).

"And then I'll play two face downs. That will be my turn."

Kisara drew her card.

"Then I'll show you a real monster by summoning Kaiser Seahorse!" Kisara yelled as her blue armoured monster stepped onto the field. (4/1700/1650).

"Now Kaiser Seahorse, attack with deep sea thrust!" Kisara commanded as the fish warrior slammed his spear into the tiny dragon.

Alaindra: 3000

Kisara: 4000

The moment the dragon was destroyed though, another appeared in its place

"That's right, you Troop Dragon has the ability to replace itself if it is destroyed in battle, but you made a big mistake, you left it in attack mode so I still damaged you" Kisara smirked.

"Didn't daddy teach you how to play?" She asked mockingly.

Alaindra clenched her fist.

"He taught me this! I activate Damage Condenser, allowing me to special summon a monster with attack equal to or less than the damage I took from your attack. So I'll special summon my final Troop Dragon."

Alaindra said as her little dragon joined her.

"I'm guessing you'll be tributing them both for a more powerful monster. Amiright daddy's girl?" Kisara smirked at Alaindra's reaction. "I'll end my turn with a facedown of my own.

"You'll regret everything when I summon my favorite monster! I'll sacrifice both Troop dragons to summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Alaindra said as both dragons dissolved into pools of black oil before melding together to form a massive black dragon.

"Wow, a powerful monster on her second turn. We have a good crop of students this year Crowler." Sheppard commented.

"Go Red Eyes! Destroy Kaiser Seahorse!"

The dragon crouched down into defense mode with its wings wrapped around its body.

"What?" Alaindra yelled.

"Oh, surprised? I used my Sphere Kuriboh which allows me to switch a monster that is attacking into defense mode when I discard it."

To Kisara's surprise, Alaindra grinned.

"Don't think you're safe. I activate a spell card called Inferno Fire Blast! When I have Red Eyes Black Dragon on the field I can deal 2400 points of damage to you."

"What?" Kisara echoed her as the black dragon unleashed a ball of flames at her, driving her to her knees.

Alaindra: 3000

Kisara: 1600

"Lucky strike." Kisara dusted herself off.

"Then I'll play a facedown and let you go."

Kisara drew another card.

"Okay, daddy's girl, I'll tribute my Kaiser Seahorse to summon Gilford the Lightning."

The armoured warrior appeared, with yellow lightning cackling around his blade. (8/2800/1400)

"Fortunately for you Kaiser Seahorse only counts as two tributes so I can't use Gilford's special ability. But he's good enough without it".

"Go Gilford! Lightning Strike Attack!" Gilford struck the ground with his blade and arced his lightning into the black dragon, destroying it.

"A good move, but not as good as mine! I activate Red Eyes Spirit allowing me to revive my Red Eyes Black Dragon." The named dragon appeared out of the smoke again and stared down the warrior. (7/2400/2000).

"Then make your move, my turns over." Kisara informed Alaindra.

"Just what I was hoping for you to say. I'll summon my Red Eyes Wyvern," A smaller version of her Red Eyes appeared, (4/1800/1600), "then I'll equip my Red Eyes Black Dragon with Metalmorph!" the trap card rose from its facedown position and then splashed a liquid iron sheen over the Red Eyes, boosting its attack and defense (7/2700/2300).

"But that's still not strong enough to defeat Gilford." Crowler exclaimed from the sidelines.

"It is, because Metalmorph is a very dangerous card." Kisara looked slightly impressed.

"It grants her dragon half the attack of any monster it attacks." Layla said excitedly. "This is exactly what she used against Damien!"

"Now Red Eyes Black Dragon, Iron Inferno Blast!"

"I'll counter with Shadow Spell!"

Iron chains shot out of the trap card to bind the iron dragon, stopping its attack in its tracks.

"This card stops your dragon from attacking and then reduces its attack by 700" Kisara said as the Red Eyes grew weaker (7/2000/2300).

Alaindra bit her lip. It seemed that Kisara was every bit as good as Crowler said she was.

"I guess I'll have to restore my red eyes to full strength then." Alaindra said as her dragon's iron scales grew even darker, snapping the chains with ease.

"By sending a Red Eyes Black Dragon equipped with Metalmorph to the graveyard I can special summon my Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon!" The mechanical dragon raised its head to the skies and roared, giving Alaindra hope again. (8/2800/2400).

"You have me in quite the precarious situation daddy's girl. If I get my Gilford to attack you metal dragon then they'll both be destroyed and you can finish me with a direct attack. If I use Gilford to attack your wyvern all you'll need is one good card to boost his attack higher than Gilford's." Alaindra sensed that the other girl was building up to something.

"If you faced any other duelist then you would have them in a very bad spot. However, you're dueling me! And I don't lose." Kisara played a spell card.

"I'll sacrifice my Gilford the Lightning to activate Black Luster Ritual, causing the gates of chaos to open, summoning a warrior with the power to rival the Blue Eyes White Dragons, the Black Luster Soldier!"

A man dressed in blue and gold armour charged through the gateway created by the light and dark monsters. Landing on one knee, he slowly raised himself, every movement radiating power. (8/3000/2500).

"Stare your defeat in the face Alaindra, this is the strongest monster in my deck." Kisara drank in the power of her monster.

Layla pressed her hands to her mouth as she gasped.

Kisara gave a feral grin. "Now I'll complete your demise by summoning Dark Blade in attack mode."

The black armoured knight joined the blue and gold one. (4/1800/1500)

"Now Dark Blade, attack Red Eyes Wyvern!"

The wyvern and the knight clashed together in a fury of claws and swords, destroying each other.

"And now Black Luster Soldier, destroy her Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon with Luster Sword Slash!"

With one blindingly fast leap the soldier closed the distance between himself and the dragon before splitting it into two parts.

Alaindra: 2800

Kisara: 1600

"I'll end my turn. Draw your last card." Kisara gave a small smile.

"This isn't my last card." Alaindra told her, "not yet."

Alaindra looked at her card and set it face down.

"Because I haven't normal summoned this turn my Red Eyes Wyvern's special ability activates, allowing me banish it to special summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon back to the field in defense mode." (7/2400/2000)

Kisara's eye twitched.

"I'm beginning to get tired of seeing that dragon."

Alaindra laughed, "if it ain't broken,"

"Don't fix it" Sheppard finished for her while Kisara looked at the card she just drew.

"First I'll activate my Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards, then... Black Luster Soldier destroy her Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

The warrior charged forward once more impaling the dragon on his sword.

"Next, I'll activate my spell card Half Shut, halving the attack of my Black Luster Soldier in exchange for making him invincible this turn." Kisara said as her monster lost its attack points. (8/3000/2500) - (8/1500/2500)

"Why did you do that?" Alaindra asked, very surprised.

"So I could activate my second card. Berserker's soul!" Kisara played her second quick play spell.

"To activate this card I must target a monster with 1500 attack or less, so it's fortunate that my Black Luster Soldier has been weakened. Then I'm allowed to draw from my deck until I reach a non-monster card and for every monster I draw, my monster can attack again!"

"First draw," Kisara looked at her card. "Cosmo Queen!"

"Black Luster Soldier attack!" the blade flashed out and hit Alaindra.

Alaindra: 1300

Kisara: 1600

"If Kisara draws one more monster, then Alaindra will lose!" Layla realised.

"Second Draw," Kisara looked again, "Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

"Black Luster Soldier, finish this duel with Luster Sword Slash!"

The blade flashed again, but right before it landed a trap card activated.

Alaindra: 100

Kisara:1600

"Why haven't you lost?" Kisara asked.

"Because I activated this card, Gift of The Mystical Elf, allowing me to gain 300 life points for every monster on the field."

"So… 300 life points then." Kisara stated.

"Yeah," Alaindra felt her cheeks heat up a bit.

"No matter, one more monster and I win. Third draw!"

Kisara looked at her card for the longest time.

"Phoenix Blade, an equip spell." She sighed, "Now due to Berserker soul's effect I discard all the cards I drew."

"I'll just have to win next turn then, it's your move." Kisara gestured dismissively at Alaindra.

Alaindra made to draw, and found herself frozen.

'What can I draw to win? There is no card in my deck strong enough to beat her Black Luster Soldier.'

No matter how hard she tried, Alaindra could not stop her doubts from surfacing.

"What if dad was right? Am I just not cut out for duel academy?"

"Alaindra?" Layla asked.

She looked up at her.

"Alaindra, you can do it." Layla gave her a smile. One of those rare smiles that you only saw once or twice in your life, a smile that understood everything you were feeling and said 'I believe you.'

Unconsciously, Alaindra's finger tightened on her deck and she drew a card.

"I too drew Pot of Greed, so I'll use it to draw two cards." Alaindra looked at what fate had given her.

"Now I'll activate Foolish Burial to send the card Layla gave me to the graveyard. The Red Eyes Archfiend of Lightning." Alaindra found the card in her deck and discarded it.

"What an ungrateful girl," Crowler thought out loud, "her friend gives her a card and then she sends it to the graveyard."

"Alaindra wouldn't do that without a good reason." Layla rationalized.

Hearing that, Alaindra turned around to give Layla a smile before revealing a card.

"Now I'll activate my spell card, Dragon's mirror!, allowing me to fusion summon a dragon monster with monsters in my grave! So I'll banish my Red Eyes Black Dragon and my Red Eyes Archfiend of Lightning to summon… Archfiend Black Skull Dragon."

A demonic dragon burst out from the flames of the two monsters. (9/3200/2500)

"You cannot win against my new monster Kisara, as it holds both my soul and Layla's soul inside of it. " Alaindra raised an arm, "Archfiend Black Skull Dragon, destroy Black Luster Soldier!"

With crimson burning in its eyes, the dragon bathed the soldier in fiery red light, burning it into a crisp.

Alaindra: 100

Kisara: 1400

"I can come back from this," Kisara told herself, "I just need one good draw."

"No you won't" Alaindra told her apologetically.

"You see, Archfiend Black Skull Dragon has an effect, if it deals damage to you I can target one Red Eyes monster in my graveyard and banish it. If I do my Dragon hits you for damage equal to that monster's attack points. So I'll remove my Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon…"

The demonic dragon absorbed the soul of the mechanized dragon and then let loose a burst of fire, knocking Kisara into the dirt.

"To burn you for 2800 points of damage, double the lifepoints you currently have" Alaindra finished.

Alaindra: 100

Kisara: 0

Crowler squealed girlishly, "Miss Kisara... I'll pretend I didn't see you lose if you want. Are you alright?"

Shakily, Kisara got up. "I'm fine… I just think," she turned away, "At first I thought I was being sent here as an insult. As a way for Seto to keep me out of his hair. Now I realise that he told me the truth... that I do have a lot to learn."

"Miss Kisara, please don't be mad I- wait, you're not angry that you lost?" Crowler asked.

"No, I'll just have to win next time we duel." Kisara dusted herself off, "Come show me where my dorm is Vice Chancellor, I have a bit of studying to do."

Bowing and scraping, the pale skinned teacher led the blue haired girl away.

"Good work Alaindra, yet another problem solved by the power of dueling." Laughing to himself, Chancellor Sheppard followed Crowler away, leaving only Layla with Alaindra.

"Wow, I can't believe Kisara was okay with losing. I guess not all Obelisks are like Damien." Alaindra told her friend.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for resisting so much though. You could have easily gotten into big trouble for walking into her." Layla said.

"It's okay Layla, if you really really didn't want to duel, you could have just told me." Alaindra replied.

"I was just afraid that you would get angry… its just that what they all say isn't wrong. I am dangerous when I duel."

Layla gave Alaindra a hug, "When I'm ready to duel, I'll tell you."

"Okay then… but aside from dueling, what can we do around here?" Alaindra asked.

Thinking to herself for a moment, Layla perked up.

"I know! We can watch other people duel!"

* * *

Authors Note:

So just a quick note in case anyone is confused, the Kisara in this chapter is the reincarnation of the Kisara from the millennium world arc, so her personality is completely different from the Kisara in ancient egypt. (Being raised by Seto Kaiba changes you).


	3. Richard

Richard Anderson wasn't a good duelist by any stretch of imagination. After barely getting a pass in the duel academy tryouts, he had quickly faded into the background… or so he hoped. His slight build and 'weak' choice of monsters had led to many a bully to choose him as a target. He had long since learned to keep his head down and not offend anyone, lest he be dragged into a fight –or even worse a duel- that he could not win. His lifetimes worth of training in remaining hidden had failed him today. He must have done something wrong, ordered his food from Ms Dorothy in a loud voice perhaps, or maybe he had been in the way at the coffee machine. Whatever the reason, Damien Oscott was now walking towards him while arguing with the gang of delinquents beside him.

"Richard, I beat you damn good in the tryouts, right?" Damien got in close, and shoved Richard out of his chair.

"Yes sir… I was no match for you." Richard said immediately.

"Really? I heard that he beat you with his Red Eyes so hard that you ate your best card." One of Damien's former cronies –Richard thought his name was Steve- said.

"That wasn't him!" Damien screamed at Steve.

"Then who was it? The preschooler or the mentally challenged kid." Steve seemed to get a kick out of tormenting the former top dog.

"I… Did… Not… Lose."

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England."

Damien hit Steve so hard he went down like a sack of bricks, and all of a sudden every student in the cafeteria was looking their way.

"Now you" Damien turned to Richard, "I've heard that you have been spreading rumors about me."

"NO" Richard exclaimed. "I wouldn't do that."

"Are you lying now?" Damien upended a cup of cola onto Richards red blazar.

"No… no" Richard backed himself into a wall.

"Well I don't believe you... do you know what I do to liars?"

Damien raised a beefy hand… only to find it was held fast by an Obelisk girl with silver blue hair.

"Kisara?" Richard wondered why the richest girl in the school would help him.

"You know what Damien?" Kisara's lips curled into a smile, "I think Richard can beat you."

"What?" Damien turned purple and tried to hit Richard, only to find his arm still held fast.

"Attacking him won't prove anything." Kisara winked at Richard, "if you want to clear your name, you'll have to beat him in a duel."

Damien glared at Kisara "fine."

With that he shook her off and stalked away to grab his duel disk.

"Kisara" Richard spoke in a hushed whisper, "I didn't actually beat him. He destroyed me in the application duel."

Kisara gave him a smile, "I've dealt with dozens of bullies like him and I know that if you don't challenge him he'll always bother you."

With shaking hands, Richard tried to take off his duel disk, but Kisara stopped him.

"Don't worry."

Richard gulped as he felt her hands on the backs of his.

"I'll be beside you every step of the way." Slowly, she released her hold on his hands.

"Are you ready to get pounded?" Damien had strapped on his duel disk.

Kisara smiled at Richard encouragingly.

"The…the only one who will be pounded is you." Richard said, activating his own duel disk.

"Duel!" the two boys said.

"I'll go first by summoning the almighty Vorse Raider!" Damien said as the muscled beast arose, a cruel blade in its hands (4/1900/1200).

"Next I'll play a card face down and end my turn."

Trembling slightly Richard drew his card.

"I guess I'll set one card in defense mode, and then place two cards face down. That will be all." He said as the three cards appeared on the field.

 _If he's still using those Charmers of his, then I have a little surprise for him in my deck,_ Damien chuckled to himself as he drew.

"Now I'll summon Enraged Battle Ox!" A massive armoured ox rose to the field (4/1700/1000)

"Now if a beast-warrior, a winged-beast, or a beast destroys one of your defense position monsters the difference between their attack and defense is dealt to you as damage." Damien chuckled.

"And because I know your charmers only have 1500 defense, you'll be taking loads of damage this turn. Vorse Raider attack his face down monster."

Rushing forward, the wicked beast brought its blade down upon the card, which flipped up to reveal an androgynous boy dressed in grey clothes with a ragged olive coat. It was Dharc the Dark Charmer. (3/500/1500)

"I'll activate a trap, Castle Walls!" Grey stone burst from the floor, stopping the blade from hitting the boy. Immediately, the Dark Charmer's defence points rose. (3/500/1500) – (3/500/2000)

Richard: 4000

Damien: 3900

"Castle walls gives all my monsters an extra 500 defense points, stopping you from destroying my monster." Richard gave Kisara a thumbs up, "and because you attacked Dharc the Dark Charmer you flipped him face up, activating his special ability."

"This allows me to take control of one dark monster on your side of the field, like your Vorse Raider!" the muscular beast stepped over to Richards side.

Damien growled. "I guess I'll just have to end my turn.

Grinning, Richard set another monster face down.

"Now I'll have your own Vorse Raider attack your Battle Ox." The wicked beast brought his blade down onto his former ally's axe, cutting through it and shattering the monster.

Richard: 4000

Damien: 3700

"I guess I'll end my turn with a face down. It's your move."

"Draw... I'll activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two." Damien looked at his new cards.

 _Great, this is one half of the equation needed to destroy this runt. Now I just need to hold off until I draw the second half._

"I'll summon Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei." Damien said, the hulking man with a monkey's tail rising in front of him. (4/2300/0)

"Now Lei Lei, destroy Dharc the Dark Charmer." As the man rushed forward to obey, Richard activated a card.

"I counter with Waboku, to stop my monsters from being destroyed, as well as Shift, making your monster attack into my facedown monster instead." Suddenly, Dharc switched positions with the facedown card, causing Lei Lei to attack a brunette girl with an amethyst staff instead. (3/500/1500).

"You attacked Aussa the Earth Charmer!" Richard showed Damien the card. "And just like Dharc she allows me to take control of one of your monsters. An earth monster like your Lei Lei to be precise."

The brutish man walked over to Richards side as well.

"What the hell?" Richard asked as Lei Lei went into defense mode.

"Oh did I not mention? Lei Lei has a weakness to compensate for his superior attack strength. After he attacks he automatically switches into defense mode, also, just so you know, he can't be changed back until after my next end phase." Damien grinned.

"It doesn't matter," Richard drew his next card.

"Vorse Raider has more than enough strength for you, attack!" Dutifully, Vorse Raider charged forward and struck Damien a blow right across the face with his blade.

Richard: 4000

Damien: 1800

Dimly, Richard heard Kisara speaking to the gathered crowd. "Maybe the rumors are true, maybe Damien did lose to Richard"

"That can't be true, Damien used to be at the top of the class." an Obelisk boy argued.

"Then how do you explain this? Richard has four monsters on the field and twice Damien's lifepoints." Another person in the crowd joined in.

"Damien's a has been. Look at him, he's losing to a Slifer."

Growling, Damien muttered to himself.

"If the brat had gotten greedy and switched those charmers of his to attack mode, this would have been a very different duel."

"What was that?" Richard asked his opponent.

"Nothing." Came Damien's curt reply.

"Fine then. I'll end my turn."

Looking at the card he drew, Damien grunted with displeasure.

 _Still not it. I need the card now or else I'll become a laughing stock._

"I'll have to place two more cards face down, and then activate Left Arm Offering!" Damien showed his spell card to the crowd.

"What does that do?" Richard asked.

"That allows him to discard his entire hand to draw any spell card from his deck. He must be truly desperate to use that card." Kisara said as Damien discarded his entire hand.

"Now I shall draw and activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards." Damien drew his two cards.

 _Finally, I've drawn it._ Damien smirked to himself.

"I'll play one more card facedown and end my turn."

Frowning slightly, Richard turned to Kisara.

"He's too happy, what if he has a trap set up for me?"

However, Kisara shook her head. "I can't help you Richard, you have to finish this duel on your own terms."

Nodding, Richard turned to Damien. "I'll pass my turn for now."

To his confusion, Damien laugh. He laughed hard, with such force that his entire body began to shake.

"All that effort you went to, to not trigger my trap, and in the end it turns out that it makes no difference. I activate my first trap, Final Attack Orders, forcing all defense position monsters into attack."

Richard frowned as Aussa, Dharc, Vorse Raider, and Lei Lei all stood up into attack mode.

"So you'll deal a bit of damage to me, that's not that funny."

"But it is Richard. Because my second trap is Weed Out!" Damien's laughter echoed across the rafters again.

"For the low price of 500 lifepoints, this card destroys all attack mode level 3 monsters, like your two Charmers."

Richard: 4000

Damien: 1300

Damien continued to laugh. "This causes both my monsters to return to me, leaving your field empty. I'll now sacrifice these two traitors to summon… Beast King Barbarous!" The Lion faced beast roared defiantly at Richard (8/3000/1200).

"I'll now equip him with my Axe of Fools, granting him 1000 more attack and negating his effect, not that he's using his right now." The beast king's lance was replaced by a silver axe.

(8/3000/1200) – (8/4000/1200)

"Now Beast King Barbaros, attack Richard end this duel!"

The massive beast raised his axe and brought it down onto Richard, knocking him into Kisara's arms.

Richard: 0

Damien: 1300

"That's game! I win!" Damien pumped his fists into the air, "I'm still the best. I didn't lose to a runt like Richard."

"…"

Silence greeted his declaration.

"I've just proven I'm not a has been." Damien tried again, but the crowd ignored him.

Suddenly, the cafeteria lady, Ms Dorothy walked up to Richard. "That was a great duel Richard! You showed courage, determination, and skill in your duel."

"Yeah, can you teach me how to use flip effects like you do?" A Ra yellow girl half pushed a surprised Mrs Dorothy away.

"You almost had him… you were so close." Another boy clapped Richard on the back.

"I won!" Damien slammed his fist onto a table.

Shaking her head, Kisara looked at Damien.

"I guess people just like rooting for the underdog. Or maybe your bullying ways aren't enough to gain respect anymore. It's tough being at the top Damien."

Wordless, Damien fled like a dog. Leaving only Richard, Kisara, an adoring crowd, and an unconscious Steve on the floor.

. . .

"Why did a rich girl like you stand up for me?" Richard asked the blue haired girl as they left the cafeteria.

"I know what it's like to be picked on."

Richard laughed.

"Which idiot would dare pick on the daughter of Seto Kaiba?"

"I wasn't always his daughter you know."

Richard stopped suddenly. "What do you mean?"

"Did you really think a stick in the mud like Seto would have the charms to get a woman to marry him?

"So you're a bastard, that's absolutely fi-"Kisara punched him in the shoulder. Hard.

"I'm not a bastard… I'm an orphan." Kisara tucked a stray lock of blue hair behind her ears, "Seto used to donate to our orphanage, and one day he came to see the kids he was helping…"

Kisara went silent for a while.

"Did you beat him in a duel?" Richard asked.

"No, that's the strange thing, he took one look at me, half dropped his briefcase, and then told the head of the orphanage that he wanted to adopt me." Kisara half smiled, "He later told me that I reminded him of someone he once saw…"

Richard looked at her awkwardly, unsure on whether he should comfort her or say 'good for you,' and then the moment was over. A bird squawked in the distance and Kisara started to walk again.

"Escort me to my dorm?" she asked.

And so Richard did.


	4. The Darkness Rises

Nitpicker: I've reread the chapters and I do make a lot of mistakes, I have gone back and edited it a bit, hopefully my grammar didn't get too much in the way of you reading my fic. As for the beta reader, I don't think I'll be able to get one but I do read over and edit my chapters to make up for it (I guess I just need to do it more). Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Everyone else: The chapters before this one were actually partially written already, so I only had to edit them before uploading them. Now that my uploading has caught up to my writing however, I may take a bit longer to upload. (not that much longer though, 1 upload every 1 or 2 days)

If you've read this far, thanks very much for reading my fic, it means a lot to me. (I'll get out of your hair now)

* * *

Deep within the forest of Academy Island a two figures met under a moonless sky.

"The master is not pleased." The tall one said by way of greeting.

"He seldom is." The shorter one replied.

"You know as well as I that Miss Graves bears Duel Academy no hate for being put in a lower ranked dorm. Without sufficient hatred to awaken her inner darkness she will be useless to us."

"I agree. We may have underestimated her. Reports show that she is stubborn, quick to anger, and even quicker to violence. But she seldom feels hatred."

"Then we will have to awaken that hatred, the only question is how."

"I believe it is time for action, this sulking about beneath the shadows is displeasing to me."

The tall figure let out a cackle of laughter which frightened the owls from a nearby tree.

"Then it is agreed. We will begin a campaign of terror the likes of which this academy has never seen before! And when she is scared, hopeless, and desperate, we will reveal ourselves and force her into a duel, one where we will prod her into unleashing her true power!"

. . .

Richard stepped gingerly into Kisara's room, uncertain on how he should conduct himself in the presence of an actual female friend.

When he finally decided to enter, Richard was awestruck by the sheer grandeur of the Obelisk Blue dorms. With a size ten times that of Richards own room –one that he shared with a roommate- Kisara's room was fitted with every conceivable necessity Richard could dream up. From the flat screen t.v on one side, the miniature fridge by the microwave, and to the massive honest-to-god chandelier that hung from her ceiling.

Richard did his best to play it cool.

"K…K… Kiss… Kisara!" Richard finally stuttered out.

"Richard." Kisara replied from her bed.

Richard hopped from foot to foot.

"Uhh, you invited me over."

"Yeah, I did." Kisara watched him for a bit. "You don't have to stand by the door, you know."

"Oh," Richard said eloquently.

Sighing, Kisara plonked herself down onto the couch and motioned for him to join her.

"You're awestruck by my room." She stated.

"Yeah, a little bit." Richard admitted.

"How long will it take for you to get over it?"

"Just a bit longer," Richard blinked rapidly and then rubbed his eyes, "Okay, I think I'm over it."

"Good." Kisara took out her cards and began playing with them, "Do you know who Alaindra Graves is?"

"No…" a moment later, Richard said. "Yes."

Kisara decided not to grace that with a reply.

"I think I saw her after my application duel, so it's understandable why my memories might be hazy. While I was still recovering from that defeat Damien served me, he challenged a black haired girl to a duel. I think the match was pretty close until the end where she pulled off this combo that completely destroyed him."

"I see." Kisara said.

"I think she runs a Red Eyes deck, it's really powerful."

"I know."

"She was so cool!"

"I know."

"You should have seen it, that dragon of hers was so powerful. When she attacked Damien he had this look on his face-"

"She defeated me in a duel." Kisara interrupted him.

"Oh…"

"That's why I asked you here." Kisara laid out her cards. "I need your help to improve my deck."

. . .

Professor Ernest Cameron stepped into the room of his favorite student. "You called me here?"

"Yes. Yes I did." Damien Oscott replied. "I don't know if you've heard but... I've lost a lot of prestige."

"And you plan on gaining it back."

"Yes, the only way I can. By proving to the world that my loss was a fluke. I have to beat Alaindra in a duel."

"Do you want me to help you improve your deck?" Professor Cameron asked.

Damien laughed darkly, "No. I need you to scout the competition. What cards she uses, how she uses them, the weaknesses to her strategies."

Professor Cameron licked his lips. "I'm a teacher Damien. I cannot show favoritism among my students."

Damien tossed a roll of bank notes towards the professor.

"If anyone asks, we never met today." Professor Cameron said.

"Of course teach."

. . .

Richard left Kisara's room, humming a little tune to himself. He had stayed with her for the better part of the day. She hadn't actually needed much help with her deck, most of his ideas being stupid, but she had seemed to enjoy his company anyway. After they had finished deck building, Kisara had let him stay for dinner, so Richard had stuffed himself with burgers and chocolate cake. Perhaps a little too much, as when Richard looked up at the sky, it was almost pitch black.

As he crested the final hill before the Slifer Red dorm, two shadowy figures stepped out of the darkness. One tall, the other less tall.

"So our reign of terror begins, Bal." The tall one said.

"Indeed it does Gorst." The shorter one replied.

"Tell me Slifer, how would you like to perish?" the tall one, Gorst asked.

"Maybe another day, thanks for asking." Richard attempted to step around the two figures, but Gorst stepped out of the shadows and clamped a bony hand onto Richards arm.

Biting his tongue to stop his yell of shock, Richard took his first good look at Gorst.

Lanky thin, and almost impossibly tall, Gorst's gentlemanly attire draped over his skin like cloth on a frame. Looking at his face, Richard saw a sunken mouth and two ghastly eyes, highlighting the way his leathery skin stretched over his skull.

"I'm going to cut to the chase Slifer, we are busy men. You can either run, and we will catch you, and hurt you."

"Or," the shorter man, Bal said, "You can duel him, and take it like a man."

Thinking to himself for a moment, Richard activated his duel disk. "Let's duel."

Gorst's grin stretched impossibly across his face. "You have made me a happy man, Slifer."

"We'll see how happy you are after I beat you." Richard drew his card.

"For my move I'll set a monster face down." The monster card appeared on the floor in front of the two duelists. "Then I'll place two facedowns and end my turn."

Gorst drew his card as a dark mist seeped from his body, swallowing him and Richard inside of it.

"W…What is this?" Richard asked.

"You didn't think that we were only having a friendly duel, were you?" Gorst asked. "The Master has grafted a demon onto my soul, allowing me to summon shadow games at will." Gorst threw his head back and barked with laughter. "If you lose this game little Slifer, then we'll do a lot more than simply hurting you."

Richard gritted his teeth. "It's your move."

"Fine, have it your way." Gorst drew a card. "I'll start by activating Tribute to The Doomed, allowing me to discard one card to destroy your monster." A stone sarcophagus pushed its way through the dirt to stand between the two duelists. Suddenly, dozens of bandages burst out from the sarcophagus to flip up Richards facedown monster, wrapping around the androgynous boy and dragging him into the darkness.

"No! Dharc the Dark Charmer!" Richard cried as his monster was destroyed.

"There's more," Gorst interrupted, "I'll be activating Book of Life, allowing me to banish your Dharc to bring back the zombie monster I previously discarded. Despair from the Dark!" (8/2800/3000). An even darker shape took form within the black mist, creating a space behind Gorst that hurt to look at. All of a sudden, the shape sprouted claws, horns, and then a ghastly smile.

"This duel is over Slifer, I'll now normal summon Zombie Tiger to the field." A one eyed feline with rotten bandages took shape from the shadows (4/1400/1600).

"Despair from the Dark and Zombie Tiger, attack him directly."

The two monsters rushed forward to do their master's bidding, but Richard flipped up a trap card.

"I'll counter with Waboku, canceling all battle damage you do to me this turn." A group of blue cloaked nurses rose in front of Richard, absorbing Gorst's attacks.

Gorst smiled. "Battle damage yes, but not effect damage. I activate Ectoplasm. This card makes it so that both of us must sacrifice a monster each turn, and when we do we can deal half that monster's attack points as damage to our opponent." Gorst snapped his fingers. "Despair from the Dark, go die for your master."

The creature of dark shadows let loose a bloodcurdling shriek and dissolved back into the mist, releasing a stream of energy as it did so. The energy passed right though the blue cloaked nurses and hit Richard in the chest, making him involuntarily scream.

Richard: 2600

Gorst: 4000

"I..It hurts."

"This is a shadow game, child. Do try not to collapse, if you do I automatically win." Gorst smiled. "I'll play one card facedown and let you make your move."

Shaking slightly, Richard drew a card.

 _Think Richard, think. He destroyed his more powerful monster, but why? Yes, he's overconfident, but he must have some way of summoning it back, like he did with Book of Life._

Richard looked at what he had drawn. Bottomless Trap Hole.

 _If he does I'll be ready._

"I too shall play a facedown card. Then, I shall summon Familiar Possessed Hiita to the field." A girl with flaming red hair and a fiery fox spirit lit up the darkness. (4/1850/1500)

"Hiita, attack his Zombie Tiger." With a burst of flame, the spellcaster incinerated the undead tiger.

Richard: 2400

Gorst: 3550

To Richard's surprise, Gorst continued to laugh.

"Thank you… your reckless attack allowed me to trigger my trap, Malevolent Catastrophe. Allowing me to destroy every spell and trap on the field."

"But that means…" Richards eyes grew wide as Bottomless Trap Hole and Shift, as well as Gorst's Ectoplasm were pulled into a massive storm, destroying all three of their cards.

"I take it from your silence that it is my turn?" Gorst waited patiently.

When, Richard's head dipped slightly, Gorst drew his card.

"I'll begin by activating Pot of Greed, so that I can draw 2 more cards." Gorst drew again, and chuckled.

"I'll begin by activating Monster Reborn, to bring back Despair from the Dark." The incorporeal monster materialized again. (8/2800/3000)

"Then, I'll tribute it to summon my monster Il Blud." A morbidly obese prisoner lumbered forward, complete with the iron ball around his leg. (6/2100/800).

"Why…why did you sacrifice a stronger monster for a weaker one?" Richard asked.

"So that I can use his special ability, but because Il Blud is a gemini monster, I need to summon him twice to activate it. Fortunately, I have the spell Double Summon, allowing me to summon Il Blud again." The prisoner began to frantically dance around until suddenly, he doubled over and a grotesque face burst from his stomach.

"Now I can use Il Blud to special summon Despair from the Dark again!" Staggering slightly, the face inside of the prisoner's stomach stretched and morphed until a dark shadow escaped past him, forming into Despair from the Dark again. (8/2800/3000).

"Il Blud, destroy Hiita." The prisoner grabbed the fiery sorceress, and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring her fiery attacks and crushing her into pieces.

Richard: 2350

Gorst: 3550

"Despair from the Dark, attack him directly and finish this shadow game."

The dark monster reached forward and struck a claw into Richard, grasping something he could not quite see. When he tried to struggle free Richard found that his limbs would not respond to him.

Then, with one more squeeze Richard let out a scream and collapsed into the ground.

Richard: 0

Gorst: 3550

. . .

"Attention students, I request that you all please calm down?"

To Alaindra it looked like the entirety of Duel Academy had been stuffed into the assembly hall. As far as the eye could see were students in red, yellow, blue, and even pajamas, jostling around as they wondered why they had been woken up so early in the morning.

Tapping the microphone a few more times, Sheppard at last managed to gain some semblance of order.

"I am well aware that this is not an ideal time for most of you. But I would not have called you here had this not been important. Last night, around midnight one of Duel Academy's students was attacked." Sheppard said. Immediately, the crowd went silent.

"He was found a few hours ago atop the hill near the Slifer Dorm with the area around him showing signs of a recent duel. Crowler and I have concluded that there is a maniac on Academy Island challenging people to dangerous duels."

Someone from the crowd piped up. "What do we do now, Chancellor?"

"You will continue to your classes as always, but you are advised to go in pairs and not stay out late. Because of this, we have decided on a 10pm mandatory curfew. I will have no heroics from you students. We will be the ones who bring this maniac to justice."

Another student from the crowd yelled something.

"Who was it that was injured?"

"I will not divulge this person's name, but you can rest assured that we are doing all we can to help them."

Near the front row, the crowd surged forward and a blue haired girl asked. "Cut the crap Sheppard. Who was hurt?"

"Kisara, I understand that you are upset, but this information is need to know only."

"Tell me." Kisara demanded again.

"No."

Snorting in disgust, Kisara stalked off angrily, her footsteps ringing in everybody's ears long after she was gone.

Turning to the gathered students, Sheppard gave them a smile.

"I believe that's enough drama for the day. You all have classes today so I won't keep you. But rest assured, no matter what it takes, we will bring whoever did this to justice.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry for the shorter chapter/duel again. For some reason writing long Richard duels are very hard for me (I guess he's just not good enough to go longer than a few turns.) But now that this is done, I can move on to the duels of other characters, which will hopefully be longer.


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